FEWER pupils are being expelled from Birmingham's schools - but the city remains well ahead of the national average, new Government figures revealed today.

The number of children permanently excluded from the city's secondary, primary and special schools fell from 366 in 2004-05 to 290 last year.

But the proportion of 0.17 per cent of Birmingham's whole school population is significantly higher than both the West Midlands and England average, which stands at just 0.12 per cent.

However, the city's Cabinet member for education, Coun Les Lawrence, claimed that as the largest authority in the country, its permanent exclusion figures were comparable with the national average.

He said: "Birmingham takes a very strong view on behaviour that is unacceptable.

"A very clear message has to be given to young people that in today's society we do not tolerate this manner of conduct."

He said schools had robust programmes on matters such as anti-racism, anti-bullying, drugs and behaviour and they will impose "serious sanctions" such as suspensions when policies are breached.

Coun Lawrence said the latest figures showed that in Birmingham, 1.65 pupils in every 1,000 are permanently excluded on average, down from 2.08 in 2004/05.

Nationally, the number of permanent exclusions fell by three per cent, from 9,440 to 9,170.

At the same time, the number of fixed period exclusions in secondary schools rose by four per cent to 343,840 last year, suggesting that more schools are using short suspensions as a way of clamping down on bad behaviour before it escalates.

Schools Minister Jim Knight has now introduced new measures to ensure fixed term exclusions are not treated as an "unofficial holiday".

From September, parents will be forced to ensure excluded pupils are kept indoors for the first five days of their suspension.